Firefly '17: Weeknd, Muse, 21 Pilots, Dylan
Firefly Music Festival just got super-sized.
For the first time in its six-year Dover run, the 90,000-person festival boasts – count'em – five headliners over four days.
Canadian alternative R&B singer The Weeknd, muscular British alternative rockers Muse, two-time Firefly veterans Twenty One Pilots, breakout Chicago hip hop artist Chance the Rapper and rock 'n' roll revolutionary Bob Dylan are the top billed acts for this year.
The lineup, which follows Firefly's formula of variety, has a something for everyone, although it does not boast an earth-shaking headliner like former Beatle Paul McCartney or the Foo Fighters from years past.
Other top acts include Grammy-nominated Australian DJ Flume, alternative rock hit-makers Weezer, New Mexico indie rockers The Shins and Los Angeles-based rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars, led by actor/musician Jared Leto.
Four-day passes and camping packages for the festival, which runs from June 15 to 18 at The Woodlands near Dover International Speedway, go on sale Friday at 1 p.m. through fireflyfestival.com.
General admission wristbands are $289 -- $10 more than last year. VIP passes cost $699 and Super VIP passes, which include access to artist lounges, on-stage viewing areas and an open bar, cost $2,499. Both are the same cost as 2016. Among the four-day camping options this year, along with the starting price: tent camping ($169), glamping ($699), RV camping ($299) and group camping ($1,099).
Christiane Pheil, Firefly's creative programming director, who leads lineup curation, says variety is the key element in creating Firefly's talent roster, which also takes fan surveys into account.
"You can tell from the lineup, even just the top line, that we have a pretty eclectic mix and we love that. It's a true reflection of the people who come to the festival," says Pheil, who adds that Dylan has been one of the top-requested acts since 2013. "I mean, he didn't even go and accept his Nobel Prize, so we feel very lucky to get him on the bill."
Demand was also high for Muse, known for their eye-popping live performances. The Matt Bellamy-fronted rockers won The News Journal's "Fantasy Firefly" fan vote in November.
Twenty One Pilots, who headline arenas nearly four years after they made their festival debut at Firefly, was another top vote-getter. When the deal was done for them to headline, they promised to rise to the occasion, Pheil says.
"Their response when we put the offer in and they confirmed was, verbatim, 'We're going to make this the biggest show in the history of the world.' So fans can expect something really crazy to happen," she says.
A daily schedule breaking down what day each act will perform will be released in the next couple of weeks and a full schedule with set times will come in May, Pheil said.
Dover-based hip hop act Trio is the lone Delaware performer on the bill, although more could be added via Firefly's "Big Break" contest next week, organizers say.
Trio's Matt Howe, who performs under the stage name Tribe Beats, says he and his bandmates (Matt "Meeze" Coston and Samuel "SAM" Carter III) always saw performing at Firefly as a goal since starting three years ago.
"Dreams without goals remain dreams. To be mentioned with other artists who are well-known is huge to us," says Howe, 24, a loadmaster in the Air Force Reserve. "We consider this a blessing. It's only up from here."
But they aren't the only Delawareans on the bill. DJ Jazzy Jeff, who lives in Bear, will be there as well, minus "Fresh Prince" Will Smith.
While Baby Boomers might be reaching for the antacid seeing acts like The Weekend and Twenty One Pilots billed over rock legend Bob Dylan, Firefly targets a younger demographic, as evidenced by the some of the other top 2017 acts acts: Los Angeles DJ Dillon Francis, Swedish indie pop act Miike Snow, pop singer Kesha, Scottish indie rockets Franz Ferdinand, Chicago pop/rock outfit OK Go, jam band O.A.R. and rappers Busta Rhymes and T-Pain.
Philadelphia Inquirer music critic Dan DeLuca says this year's headliners -- like last year's roster of Mumford and Sons, Kings of Leon, Florence and the Machine and deadmau5 -- lacks "top-line pizazz."
"My immediate impression is that I don't think the headliners really pop. I'm a little bit worried about the festival in that regard," says DeLuca, who co-hosts the weekly "Dan and Dan Music Podcast" with WXPN 88.5-FM music director and host Dan Reed.
"Last year was the first year I didn't feel compelled to go. I feel like it's this awesome, really well-run festival in a beautiful place and they do almost everything right, but I also feel like [the line-up] is not jumping out at me as far as the headliners," he added. "At a certain point to get the attention, you do need the eye-popping headliners. However, the success of the festivals are really about what the destination is like, what kind of a hang it is and how effective the brand has been perpetuated from year to year. They are great at that."
Reaction from longtime Firefly attendees like Dover attorney Bill Bush, 48, who has attended all five Firefly festivals, was generally positive.
"It's a great mix of bands. Having Muse here is excellent," says Bush, who is also excited for return visits from Twenty One Pilots and Weezer. "It's a good mix of rock, hip hop and pop."
Wilmington's Eric Anderson, who performs across the state as DJ EA specializing in club music, found nearly 40 acts on the 143-act line-up that he definitely wanted to catch.
"It looks pretty solid. I like that they got Muse in there. They are known as one of the best live acts, so that will definitely be good," says Anderson, 34, who has attended four Firefly festivals. "I'd say it's on par with past line-ups and good enough to go all four days, but I have tickets to U2 that Sunday so I hope they sell individual day passes."
A decision about the availability of day passes for this year has not been made, says a representative for Red Frog Events, which produces the festival alongside Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival founding producer Goldenvoice.
This year's lineup was revealed three months later than the announcement for the 2016 festival, which was made back on Nov. 18, 2015. That was the first year the lineup had been revealed so early. The year before, the line-up leaked online before it could be announced, due to Firefly's delays in finalizing its contract with Paul McCartney.
POLL: What do you think of the Firefly lineup?
In its first five years, Firefly has established itself as one of the biggest music festivals in the nation, drawing a dizzying array of musical acts that otherwise would never play The First State.
In addition to McCartney's historic 33-song Delaware performance in 2015 complete with giant fireballs during "Live and Let Die," Firefly has also drawn arena-sized rock acts such as Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, The Killers, Kings of Leon, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Red Hot Chili Peppers and the aforementioned Twenty One Pilots.
Hip hop and electronic dance music fans have bounced to the likes of Kendrick Lamar, deadmau5, Run the Jewels, Calvin Harris, Snoop Dogg, OutKast and Steve Aoki.
This year's breakout country star, Sturgill Simpson, who is nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 12, played The Woodlands in 2015.
There has never been a better time to be a music fan in Delaware.
Delawareans made up 9 percent of the 90,000 fans at last year's festival and more Firefly fans came from Wilmington than any other city in the country. All 50 states were represented, as well as 11 different countries.
The lineup has a more than a few acts that have played Delaware before. And some were especially memorable because of the venue:
Dylan has performed everywhere from the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark (three times: 1992, 1999 and 2013) to Kahunaville on Wilmington's Riverfront in 2004 when servers in bikini tops hawked shots while roaming through the crowd during "Master of War." (His son, Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers, whose mother Sara was originally from Wilmington, played the inaugural Firefly in 2012.)
Thirty Seconds to Mars performed at both Kahunaville and the Bay Center in Dewey Beach in 2005.
And Weezer put on an out-of-place outdoor show along I-95 at the Christiana Mall tied to the opening of the Microsoft store in 2012, along with a Firefly set in 2014 and a 1994 show at the Bob Carpenter Center five months after the 1994 release of their debut album.
This story will be updated throughout the day.
Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).
FIREFLY 2017 LINEUP
888
AFI
Alan Walker
Alex Wiley
Andy Frasco & The U.N.
Animal Years
Anna Lunoe
Anna Shoemaker
ARIZONA
Armani Lee
Astro 8000
Ayokay
Banks
Barns Courtney
Bencoolen
Benny Benassi
Big Wild
Bishop Briggs
Bleachers
Blossoms
Bob Dylan and His Band
Bob Moses
Busta Rhymes
Capital Cities
Carverton
Cashmere Cat
Chance the Rapper
Chill Moody
Cold Roses
Crywolf
CVBZ
Daya
Dead Man Fall
Deal Casino
Dillon Francis
DJ Jazzy Jeff
Dreamers
Dude Ranch & The Girl At the Rock Show
Eden
Elohim
Fickle Friends
Fletcher
Flume
Foreign Air
Francis & The Lights
Franz Ferdinand
Future Generations
Galantis
Glass Animals
Goody Grace
Gryffin
Hamilton Leithauser
Hamish Anderson
Handsome Ghost
Hardwork Movement
HDBEENDOPE
Ill Fated Natives
Illenium
Jacob Banks
James TW
Jared & The Mill
Joie Kathos
Jonas Blue
Judah & The Lion
K. Flay
Kaiydo
Kaleo
Kesha
Kevin Garrett
Lawrence
Lewis Del Mar
Lil Dicky
Louie Louie
Luke O'Brien
Maggie Rogers
Magic Giant
Matoma
Meg Mac
Michael Blume
Miike Snow
Miles Chancellor
Mir Fontane
Misterwives
Mondo Cozmo
Muna
Muse
Nahko and Medicine for the People
NAWAS
New Madrid
NF
O.A.R.
OddKidOut
OK GO
Owel
Pardison Fontaine
Phantogram
Quinn XCII
QuiteHype
Rainbow Kitten Surprise
repeat repeat
Roadkill Ghost Choir
Rozes
Saint Wknd
Salt Cathedral
Savoir Adore
Secret Weapons
Shaed
Shizz lo
Short Sleeve Heart
Sir Sly
Sir The Baptist
Slushii
Snakehips
Sofi Tukker
Spiritual Rez
Steve James
Stick Figure
Sub-Radio
Sunflower Bean
T-Pain
Taylor Bennett
The Lawsuits
The Naked and Famous
The Orphan The Poet
The Shins
The Social Animals
The Steppin Stones
The Strumbellas
The Weeknd
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Tory Lanez
Trio
Twenty One Pilots
Vita and the Woolf
Wale
Walker Lukens
Warm Brew
Weezer
White Panda
Wilderado
Win & Woo
Young Bombs
IF YOU GO
What: Firefly Music Festival
When: June 15-18
Where: The Woodlands near Dover International Speedway, Dover
Four-day passes: General admission ($289), VIP ($699) and Super VIP ($2,499). On sale beginning at 1 p.m. today.
Information: fireflyfestival.com
FIREFLY 2016 FAN RESIDENCY
14% – Pennsylvania
10% – Maryland and New Jersey
9% – Delaware
8% – New York
6% – Virginia
FIREFLY 2016 TOP FAN CITIES
1. Wilmington
2. Philadelphia
3. Dover
4. New York, New York
5. Washington, D.C.
6. Baltimore, Maryland
7. Arlington, Virginia